Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp's (THSRC, 高鐵) shuttle transist system and reimbursement mechanism for delays were the top concerns in a Consumers' Foundation (消基會) survey published yesterday.
Almost a year after its launch on Jan. 5 last year, the poll found that 62 percent of 2,660 respondents said it was unreasonable for THSRC only to reimburse the full fare when delays were for more than an hour, or to only refund half the fare for delays between 30 minutes and an hour.
An official at THSRC disagreed.
"The railway's reimbursement system for delays is quite reasonable compared to that of overseas railway service providers. Japan, for example, only reimburses train delays of more than two hours. In France, passengers are only reimbursed half the fare for delays of more than an hour," vice president of THSRC's public affairs division Ted Chia (賈先德) said. "Nonetheless, THSRC will still take the foundation's suggestions into consideration."
Despite those complaints, a majority expressed satisfaction with the company's overall service.
The second biggest issue that THSRC needs to resolve, 55 percent of the respondents said, was its transfer services.
Chia said that local bus services do not fall under the company's jurisdiction.
"THSRC's main challenge is that the company does not have the right to operate local bus services. THSRC is currently, at its own cost, providing free shuttle buses at Taichung (
Chia urged the government to allow private companies to operate transportation services, such as nine-seater buses, between the railway stations and the city center.
Another 45 percent found it unreasonable that passengers were required to cancel their tickets at least half-an-hour before the scheduled departure time.
Chia said the rule aimed to protect other passengers' rights to secure tickets and seats. However, he said the company would take all its customers concerns into consideration.
THSRC operated a total of 24,400 trains last year, carrying approximately 15.55 million passengers. Its revenue, as of last November, had reached NT$12 billion (US$370 million) and the firm was expecting to break even this year, Chia said.
"In December, THSRC's total number of passengers exceeded 2 million, up 20.48 percent when compared with November's 1.66 million, and the firm expects to see a higher growth rate in the next two months as a result of the Lunar New Year holiday," Chia said.
For the Lunar New Year holiday, Chia said THSRC would start selling tickets online from midnight last night and was planning to operate 1,500 trains with nearly 1.48 million seats available between Feb. 1 and Feb. 12.
THSRC's other plans for this year include the launch of a telephone voicemail system during the first half to enhance the speed of its service. The company is also in talks with President Chain Store Corp (
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
RSS